The Note
by IzziMeyers
Summary: Faced with his worst nightmare, Harry Potter finds himself reliving the best moments of his life.  Post DH, Pre Epilogue.  COMPLETE!
1. By The Lake

Harry felt his feet hit cold, hard ground, and looked frantically in every direction. There was nothing but shallow hills and grass for as far as he could see, and definitely no sign of a shack. He hastily placed his wand on his outstretched palm and muttered "Point me." The wand spun around, eventually pointing to Harry's left, and Harry shot forward, sprinting east, just as the note had said.

Harry left the ministry around ten 'o clock tonight and found the note as soon as he got home, so he assumed it was around ten-thirty now. At any rate, the sky was dark and clear; even the stars seemed dimmer, but that could just be because of Harry's current feeling of cold dread.

It was that note, that awful note that made Harry feel more terrified than he could ever remember feeling before. He had faced horrible creatures, dark wizards, and even death more times than even the most experienced auror, but he had never in his life been so terrified by one sentence.

It was being faced with the prospect of losing everything that made Harry recall all of the memories that were stored in the back of his mind, always there but seldom remembered.

_She led him to the edge of the lake, where just a little to their left a group of Hufflepuff fourth years were throwing dinner rolls at the giant squid. He looked back to Ginny and watched her take her shoes off, dip her toes in the lake, and arch her neck back, letting the sun caress her face. He sat down beside her, wanting so badly to say something, and at the same time, wanting the silence to say everything for him. He contented himself to simply take in her appearance. Her hair shone brilliantly, as if each individual strand was emitting its own radiant light. He wanted to run his hands through it, just as he had done mere minutes ago when she ran towards him in the common room, wrapped her arms around his neck, and kissed him so deeply…._

_ Halfway through this recollection, he noticed that Ginny was staring at him._

_ "What?" He asked._

_ "You're staring at my hair."_

_ "Oh, well, it's beautiful."_

_ "Yeah?" Ginny arched one eyebrow as if she was daring him to say it again._

_ "Yeah, but not as beautiful as you," said Harry, blushing._

_ Ginny looked towards the lake, but he could still see the smile on her face. "So, how long have you liked me?"_

_ "How long have I liked you, or when did I realize I liked you?"_

_ "The second one, I guess."_

_ "When I saw you and Dean together."_

_ "So, jealousy does work. Remind me to thank Hermione."_

_ Harry had opened his mouth to ask what she wanted to thank Hermione for, but at that moment found speaking difficult; Ginny's lips met Harry's. The kiss was soft and sweet, and by end of it Harry was lying on his back, his arm around Ginny, who was lying beside him._

_ "So…do you want to talk about the match?" Harry asked with a smile. She laughed, and he took that as a no. They lay there for several hours, watching the clouds float overhead and the sun slowly set, not saying much, but simply basking in the glow of what had finally come to fruition between them._

* * *

><p><strong>The idea behind this story actually came from losing a close friend of mine. I was surprised at how the tragedy of losing someone caused me to suddenly remember every single moment we ever spent together, especially the small ones I'd forgotten over time.<strong>** If you're interested in this story at all, please subscribe, because there will be many more memories to come. I also wouldn't mind taking any suggestions for memories that anyone has. Thank you for reading, and please review!**

**~Izzi**_  
><em>


	2. Studying

_Harry sat in his favorite armchair in front of the common room fire while Ginny was sprawled out on the floor, studying for her O.W.L.'s while simultaneously trying to not rip her hair out. After the last fifth year left studying burst into tears and ran up the stairs to her dormitory, Harry decided to lay down beside her and try to help._

_ "Can I help you?" Harry asked, while planting a kiss on her cheek._

_ "What year was the Wizard's Council formed?" Ginny burst with a crazed look on her face that reminded Harry eerily of Hermione. "I know there's a two in the date somewhere but I just can't remember! And how did Fulbert the Fearful die? I can't remember!"_

_ "Er-," Harry had never seen her look so stressed before, "I'm not sure about the Wizard's Council, but I have Fulbert's card upstairs, if you'd like for me to go and fetch it."_

_ "Oh, there's no use, I have to get started on Charms anyway! I'm able to give my teacups legs easily enough, but for some reason as soon as they've become mobile they start stomping all over everything within sight! There has to be a note about avoiding unwanted aggression in here somewhere…," Ginny said shrilly while pulling The _Standard Book of Spells, Grade5_ closer to her and turning the pages with such force Harry was afraid she would rip them right out._

_ "Er, Gin," Harry said tentatively while slowly tugging the book away from her, "Ginny? You're starting to scare me a little. I mean, I'm used to this with Hermione and all, but I think you're being a little hard on yourself? You'll do fine on your exams, I know you will, you just need to loosen up a little. Just relax."_

_ "And how am I supposed to do that when I can't remember how Fulbert the Fearful died?"_

_ "Okay, tomorrow I will give you Fulbert's card, but right now you need to stop studying and calm down. Here, I'll help. I'm an expert at not studying, you know."_

_ Ginny laughed shakily, closed her eyes, and took a deep breath. "Okay," she said, opening her eyes, "now what?"_

_ "Now this." Harry kissed her forehead, then each of her cheeks in turn, and was kissing her nose when Ginny, who had never been a fan of anything she deemed 'cutsy', interjected._

_ "Harry, you know I-"_

_ But he interrupted her speech with a kiss, and Ginny, forgetting that she had ever meant to say anything, kissed him back._

_ "Oi!"_

_ They broke apart quickly to find Ron standing over them, having just walked into the common room._

_ "This is the common room, you know? It's not the…the snogging room, or anything," he finished lamely._

_ "I was, er" Harry grabbed the nearest book and holding it up for Ron's inspection, "helping Ginny with her transfiguration-"_

_ "Charms," she muttered through the side of her mouth._

_ "Charms," Harry amended, noticing that he was holding up _The Standard Book of Spells, Grade 5_, "er, Charms. Yeah."_

_ Ron continued to eye them suspiciously._

_ "And what are you doing down here anyway?" Ginny asked. "I thought you were sleeping."_

_ "Never you mind why I'm down here. I just…I…sleepwalking." Ron looked wistfully back at the staircase. "I'll just, er, go back to bed, then. Yeah, I'll leave you to your studying." _

_ "That was odd," Ginny said once Ron had left._

_ "Yeah, I wonder what it was about." Just as those words left Harry's mouth, Hermione walked downstairs. "What's up?" He asked her._

_ "Oh, um, nothing. No, I was just…sleepwalking. I'll just…just head back to bed now."_

_ Once her back was turned, Harry heard Ginny giggle._

_ "What?" He asked._

_ "Nothing, it's just that Fred owes me five galleons; he didn't reckon they'd figure it out until after Hogwarts."_

_ Harry smiled, and decided to take advantage of the fact that they were alone once again. Soon, all thoughts of Fulbert the Fearful were gone, and only their warm embrace remained._


	3. Pepper Imps

_ "Hit me," Ginny said with a look of grim determination on her face. Harry threw another Pepper Imp at her, and she popped it into her mouth without pausing, possibly to avoid over- thinking and avoiding the dare. Her face immediately burned so red it was sure to make her hair jealous; steam erupted violently from both her ears and tears leaked down her face. She opened her mouth to emit a small ball of fire and pant heavily, and then began to eye the glass of iced pumpkin juice sitting before her with longing. After several seconds of this, her panting stopped, a grin broke out on her face, and she raised her head to look at him. "Your turn," she said simply._

_ "Hit me," Harry smiled back, although he was not looking forward to what he was about to face. She threw another one of the fiendishly hot sweets at him, and, also without pausing, he popped it into his mouth. The effect was instantaneous; his mouth burned so hot that he felt like he'd just finished a lengthy snog with a Hungarian Horntail, his ears seemed to pop with the pressure of trying to regulate his internal temperature, and the smiling redhead before him seemed to swim in his now teary vision. Before he even had time to fully adjust to the heat in his mouth, he swallowed, quite accidentally. The juices in his stomach seemed to bubble like a potion left on the fire far too long, and he was sure it was going to burst. Just as Harry was observing the irony that it was not Lord Voldemort that was going to do him in, but a small but equally evil sweet, his temperature lowered. The process was slow, though, and it took everything he had not to grab the juice in front of him. 'You're temperature is lowering,' he thought, 'just wait it out…a few more seconds…just a few more….' He finally found he was able to smile, and with that, speak. "Your turn," he said. _

_ "Just give in, mate," said Ron, who was sitting beside Harry and watching the competition in what had, until now, been awed silence, "she's stubborn. She once got me to eat my own shoelace, and I'm the older one! Trust me; you'd be better off just backing out now."_

_ But before Harry even had time to consider this, Ginny had reached across and grabbed not one, but two sweets, and popped them in her mouth. Within seconds she was pounding the table with her fists, her eyes streaming. She accidentally sent a stream of fire in Ron's direction, which, due to the double dose of the sweet, was large enough to reach across the table and singe his sleeve cuff. After minutes of watching her struggle, Harry was taken aback to see her smile, completely ignoring the glass in front of her. "Your turn," she said, her voice now harsh from the heat._

_ Harry reached his hand across to the bag of sweets, which seemed to be twice as far away in his current state of dread, and grabbed two. He had barely popped them in his mouth when he found out what Ginny had endured just moments ago. Instinctively, Harry spat the sweets on the table and grabbed the glass in front of him. He took a deep, long drink from the glass, thankful that he had had the foresight to ask Hermione to put a refilling charm on them beforehand. After what felt like hours of drinking, Harry lowered his glass, and saw that Ginny was drinking as well._

_ "You caved," he said, finding his voice to be just as cracked as Ginny's had been._

_ "Actually, I believe it was you who caved. _I_ didn't drink until you gave in."_

_ "So you wanted to drink this whole time as well?" Harry asked, surprised._

_ "Of course I did, I'm not stupid. But I certainly wasn't about to let you win," she confessed with a smile._

_ "Well, I suppose if you had, you wouldn't be the Ginny I know," said Harry, leaning across the table and meeting her chapped lips with his._

_ To his right, Harry heard Ron make an indistinguishable noise of disgust, nearly trip over the bench trying to stand up, and walk over to Seamus to quickly start up a conversation about Quidditch. However, as it turned out, Ron needn't had move at all, because Harry and Ginny learned quickly the consequences of two burning mouths meeting, and each retreated to their glasses, eyeing each other over the rims with silent, and therefore painless, laughter._


	4. After The War

_ After what felt like only a few minutes of sleep, Harry woke up to the beam of sunlight shining through the windows of the dormitory. Just as he decided to get up and close them, he realized that he was not alone. _

_ "I was just making sure no one came in and tried to bother you, I figured you'd want some rest." Ginny Weasley was sitting on the bed next to him, legs crossed and facing him._

_ "Were you watching me sleep?" Harry said jokingly._

_ "Am I not allowed to do that?"_

_ "You can do whatever you feel like, Ginny." The past year of separation hung between them like a heavy fog, making it hard for Harry to think of anything to say, so for a while he said nothing._

_ "Do you want to go back to sleep?" Ginny inquired after the silence became unbearable._

_ "No, not really," more silence, and then, "is everyone still, um…."_

_ "With Fred, yes. They're moving him to the burrow soon. I said I'd hang back with you and meet them there."_

_ "Are you sure you don't want to go now?"_

_ "Of course I'm sure, who else would force you to come if I weren't here?"_

_ She always could tell exactly what he was thinking, because right now the last thing Harry wanted was to face the Weasleys, not when he was the reason that Fred had died._

_ "It's not your fault," Ginny said, furthering Harry's suspicion that she's a legilimens._

_ "I know," Harry said, even though he didn't._

_ "No you don't," Ginny smiled. Harry didn't reply. Her smile slowly faded. "I thought you were dead," she said softly. Her tone changed dramatically in those five words. She was no longer joking, but Harry couldn't determine exactly what it was that made her sound so different from how she normally sounded._

_ "Well, that was kind of the point. I needed to get back in the castle."_

_ "You couldn't've told me it wasn't real?" And that was when Harry realized what he was hearing: hurt. Ginny had always been so brave and so strong, he had never heard her sound hurt before. Even when they broke up last year she put on a brave face. Harry was shocked silent as a single tear fell from each of her brown eyes._

_ "I didn't know it wasn't real, not at first. I didn't know the curse was going to fail until after it did. I knew the only way to defeat Voldemort was by going in the forest and letting him kill me. Only it didn't work this time either."_

_ "So you thought you were going to die and didn't say goodbye to me?"_

_ "If I had, would you have let me go?"_

_ Ginny was silent, and Harry knew it was because she wanted to say 'yes,' but she didn't want to lie, either._

_ "And how was I supposed to say 'Hey, I'm about to go die, but how about one last kiss?' I would have never been able to stop kissing you. I wouldn't've been able to let you go."_

_ "You let me go once."_

_ "And it was the hardest thing I've ever had to do. I couldn't do it twice."_

_ "You've done plenty of more difficult things, you're Harry Potter! You've fought Voldemort a million times before you were even of age, and you defeated him!"_

_ "Trust me, Ginny, that was infinitely easier than the day I told you I couldn't see you anymore." _

_ "Well, I guess. But I'm still not happy about it."_

_ "Hey, I'm alive now."_

_ "Yeah, I know," Ginny looked at him, "you didn't meet any veela while you were traveling, did you?"_

_ Harry laughed, and then he kissed her. This kiss rivaled that last one they shared, and Harry had a hard time pulling away. "How could I when I had that nice gift to remember you by?"_

_ Ginny chuckled, and looked down at her hands. "I missed you."_

_ "I missed you too, Gin."_

_ She climbed into bed with him and hugged him hard, but pulled away when he released a gasp of pain._

_ "What? What happened?" She inquired, looking all over his body for some sign of an injury._

_ "Nothing, it's just sore. That's where I got hit."_

_ "Right here?" She asked, pointing to a spot in the center of his chest._

_ "Yeah."_

_ She jabbed it hard with her fingers._

_ "Ow! What was that for?"_

_ "Now we're even. And next time you're planning on sacrificing yourself for the good of the wizarding world, let me know first, okay?"_

_ "Fine, but in all honestly I don't think I'll be able to survive the killing curse again; I'm pretty sure my luck's run its course on that one."_

_ She giggled softly, and pulled in closer to him. They lay silently in each other's arms, letting all the noise from the outside world drown out, until they fell asleep. The last thing Harry remembered thinking before he lost consciousness is how happiness is like a phoenix; you will always find it rising out of the ashes of a tragedy, even if it sometimes takes a while._


	5. The Wierd Sisters

_ They walked through the London streets in their muggle clothing, minus the Weird Sisters emblem on Ginny's shirt, looking as though they were doing nothing more exciting than heading home after an uneventful day. However, once the young couple reached an old abandoned pub, they looked surreptitiously over their shoulders and leaned against the outside wall. Once they had passed through the barrier they found themselves in the crowded antechamber of a concert hall, full to the brim of young witches and wizards whispering excitedly about the Weird Sisters._

_ This was the first real date Harry and Ginny had been on; all the ones prior had taken place at the Burrow, where no one had ever asked Harry for his autograph. When he heard that Ginny's favorite band was coming to London he bought tickets at once, looking forward to being able to go out with her as well as to hide in the large crowd._

_ They headed towards the ticket booth, where a harassed looking young witch was working. While processing their tickets, Harry felt the witch's eyes linger on his scar, but thankfully, and presumably due to the large, rowdy line behind him, she did not say anything. Before they found their seats, Harry purchased two large Firewhiskeys and handed one to Ginny._

_ They struggled to climb to their seats, occasionally stepping on a few people, but no matter how many people he stepped on none of them seemed to notice that the famous Harry Potter was the one doing it. Harry relished being able to partake in something so normal without having to duck away from wandering eyes or uncomfortable questions. He finally saw their seats come into view, and just as he was climbing over a particularly rowdy wizard, he lost his balance, fell back, and elbowed Ginny's hand, knocking half of her drink down her front._

_ The crowd around them all turned to stare at the sopping redhead and began to whisper eagerly, as if expecting her to yell at him. But Harry, who knew better, was looking for an exit, only to find that he was trapped. He turned back to Ginny and found, as he knew he would, a mischievous grin on her face. With one swift movement of her arm she threw the remaining whiskey at Harry. _

_ "Now we're even," she shouted over the noise. Harry moved closer to her, and saw that she was giving him that look, that hard, blazing look he loved so much, and he kissed her without another thought, one hand in her hair and the other on the small of her back. The kiss lasted longer than it would have had they been at the Burrow, and try as Harry might to convince himself that the heat he felt between their bodies was just the spilled Firewhiskey, he couldn't shake the feeling that it was something more._


	6. Fall Leaves

_ Harry was walking around the Burrow on August 31__st,__ admiring the piles of newly, and prematurely, fallen leaves. The piles all sparkled with bright reds, oranges, and yellows; at least all the piles except for the one he currently found himself standing in front of. This one had a girl lying in it; a girl who's hair shone so red it made all the leaves look pale and colorless in comparison, and that hair was currently spread out around her head as if she had plopped herself down to stare at the sky and hadn't moved since. Harry sat down beside her and grabbed her hand._

_ "What are you thinking about?" Harry asked._

_ "The Hogwarts Express leaves tomorrow," Ginny replied without looking away from the clouds above her. Harry wondered if she was actually seeing them; her face looked so concentrated._

_ "Yes, it does," Harry said unhelpfully._

_ "I'll be on it."_

_ "Yes, you will._

_ Ginny turned her head to look at him and fixed her eyes on his. "You won't."_

_ He sat up and grabbed her other hand. She turned to face him while he spoke._

_ "Ginny, we spent all of last year apart-"_

_ "And it was torture!" Ginny sat up abruptly, now level with Harry._

_ "Yeah, it was, but this time I won't be running from place to place trying to stay alive. I'll be able to write, I'll see you during the holidays, and I'll be on the Hogwarts express to pick you up as soon as you get back."_

_ "But what if something happens to you while I'm gone?"_

_ "Gin, that was something to worry about last year, when nearly everyone wanted me dead."_

_ "I know, but I've waited so long to be with you. It's just my luck that after successfully killing the most deadly wizard in the world you'd end up getting killed by a…a flying dustbin or something, and then we'd never be together."_

_ "Ginny, listen. If you keeping worry about accidents happening then you're always going to be worrying. Just be happy that this year I'm not being hunted down by dark wizards and imperiused ministry officials. And about this 'never being together' thing, we are together, even when we're apart, so stop thinking about me being pecked to death by rabid chickens, which is unlikely to happen, so don't even think about it, and start thinking about all the things you want to do once you're out of Hogwarts. I promise we'll do them all. And while you're gone, I promise to be on the look out for flying dustbins and rabid chickens, just for you."_

_ "Yeah, okay." Ginny settled herself back down into the leaves. "Write me every day, okay?"_

_ "Every day? I've got training coming up and I, ow! Okay, okay, I'll write every day!" Harry rubbed the place on his arm where she had hit him and smiled down at her. "You know I will. But you have to respond to every letter the same day."_

_ "We'll see," she grinned at him. He grinned back, and bent down to kiss her while formulating his own list of things to do next summer._

* * *

><p><strong>Sorry it took so long to get this out. It actually didn't take me that long to write it, but my computer was out of commision for awhile, and as soon as I got it back I was on my way out of town for the weekend. Anyway, the second I got back I hopped on and wrote this; I was itching to write the whole time I was gone! I'm officially addicted to fanfiction.<strong>

**~Izzi**_  
><em>


	7. Favorite Student

_ Harry sat in his favorite armchair, staring at the fire that was casting a dim glow in the Gryffindor common room. The shadows flickering on the wall almost put him to sleep; it had been a long day for him. He had woken up at the crack of dawn to begin training, and it had been rough. After several hours of being attacked over and over again, he grabbed lunch at a local café before apparating to Hogsmeade. He sat in the Three Broomsticks waiting for Hermione's all clear, and once he received it he headed down to Hogwarts where, after being let in by professor Flitwick, he made his way to the Gryffindor common room to be let in by Hermione. After that, all he had to do was wait for Ginny to return, but she seemed to take forever, and his muscles ached for a nap…._

_ "Don't tell me you've decided to re-enroll with Hermione? Auror training end up being too much for you? Or did you just get lost and forget that you don't go here anymore?"_

_ When Harry opened his eyes after having fallen asleep for what only felt like seconds, it was to find a girl with red hair standing over him; red hair that was emanating a deep amber glow in the firelight._

_ "How long was I out?" He asked stupidly, rearranging his glasses before receiving a slight blow to the chest._

_ "You didn't tell me you were coming!"_

_ "Well, that was kind of the point, wasn't it? Surprise," he finished lamely._

_ "How did you even get in here?" She asked, sitting on the arm of the chair._

_ "I'm the famous Harry Potter. Kidding," he added, seeing Ginny's hand raise again, "only kidding. But being McGonagall's favorite student does have its perks."_

_ "Well, I'm glad you came," she said while bending to kiss him._

_ "How's school coming?"_

_ "You're lucky that you never had to take your N.E.W.T's," she said, her eyes widening, "they're awful. Remember that night you tried to help me study for my O.W.L's?"_

_ Harry half-smiled as the memory returned to him as easily as if he had used a summoning charm on it. "Yeah, I'd nearly forgotten about that."_

_ "Well, this is ten times worse. I feel like I'm going to explode. But, I'm remembering what you told me," she said while rummaging in her bag, "cool, calm, and collected…," her rummaging grew fiercer, "cool, calm…cool…and…where's my textbook? It was just in here!" She was now grabbing her bag so harshly that Harry could hear the seams popping._

_ "Ginny," he tried to gently tug the bag away from her, but she snatched it further from him, "Gin, hey, Ginny!" They were now engaged in a game of tug-a-war so fierce that when Harry finally succeeded in tearing the bag from her it was split clean and two, and all of her possessions were on the floor._

_ "Oh, there it is," Ginny said, bending down to pick up a book, "for a second there I thought I left it in the library again; I've already done that three times this week."_

_ "You've been in the library three times in one week?"_

_ "Well, fourteen actually, once before breakfast and once after lunch every day, but I only left my things there three times."_

_ "You've been spending too much time with Hermione."_

_ "Does that bother you?"_

_ "A little, actually."_

_ "Well, what's wrong with that? You like Hermione." She said, with the air of trying to lure him into saying something else._

_ "I do, her and Ron are my best friends."_

_ "Then what's the problem if I start turning into her?"_

_ "Well, I don't love Hermione."_

_ "And you love me?" Though she said it casually, her eyes were fixed on hers, anxiously awaiting the answer._

_ "I do." He said it with a smile, because he knew that he did. He didn't feel nervous about admitting it, because he had never been more sure about anything in his life. _

_ "Say it." A small smile was forming at the corners of her mouth._

_ Harry laughed. "I love you, Ginevra Weasley. Was that sufficient enough for you?"_

_ "Yes, but with big words like sufficient you're turning into Hermione far too much for my liking," she said with a grin._

_ "Okay, how about this: I'll stop using words I learned from Hermione as long as you remember to always take deep breaths."_

_ She laughed, that sweet laugh that he loved so much. "Deal."_

_ They sat there for a long time in the glow of the fire that grew gradually dimmer, just talking about everything that was happening in their lives. By the time the fire went out, Ginny had fallen asleep on his shoulder. Since he didn't have training tomorrow, Harry decided that it would be nice to let her sleep, and before long, he was out too. _


	8. Perfection

_Harry and Ginny walked through the snow, which was no longer snow but more of a sopping wet slush that leaked through shoes and skin alike. The past summer was great; he had picked Ginny up at King's Cross just as he'd promised and immediately took her on their first date: ice skating in Greenland. Since then they've spent their time apparating around the world; dinner in Paris, swimming in Tahiti, visiting art museums in Italy, basically doing everything there is on the to-do-before-I-die list…everything but the one he was most anxious for…._

_He'd been carrying the ring around for four months now, waiting for the perfect moment. However, since his life with Ginny was full of nothing but perfect moments, he was having a hard time finding one that truly stood out. In the meantime, the nerves of having something so monumental on his mind, and in his pocket, have been driving him mad. He was jumpy and anxious; he was overly aware of the lump in his pocket and terrified that she would notice before he was even able to propose to her. He was thinking so hard about how to pop the question that he'd occasionally drift off mid-sentence while talking to her, his mind elsewhere. He was sure that she had noticed, but she hadn't said anything yet. He could only hope that she hadn't figured out for herself._

_"Ugh! I hate this wet, slushy…ugh!" Ginny kicked a lump of the goop in front of her and stopped to mope._

_"I thought you liked the winter?"_

_"I do, but not when it melts. I love the winter right after the first snowfall, when everything's still and covered in a beautiful white powder. It's breathtaking."_

_The first snowfall would have been breathtaking…. Did they have enough daylight left to apparate to a snowy hillside? They could start at the bottom and walk up to the top…of course he'd have to erase their footsteps behind them; they'd detract from the beauty…and what about the view? It would have to be perfect...he supposed he could-_

_"But I'm sick of the snow, really. I'm ready for the warmth of summer; or at least my feet are," she added, looking down at her soaked trainers._

_The warmth of summer…he could do that. It may not be 'the place,' but at least their feet would be dry. He held his arm out to her._

_"Now? I thought you were tired of apparating all over the place?"_

_"Do you want to go somewhere warm or not?" He joked._

_"Yes please," and she grabbed hold of his arm._

_Immediately after they turned, the air, which was quite open a moment ago, became constricted as they shot through it as though being pushed through a tube. When they were finally able to breathe again, they were on a sandy beach that was almost entirely empty (a woman in a red bathing suit with a large hat was reading a book some twenty meters away.) Behind them was a sandy hill with an observation platform at the top, which Ginny headed for._

_"Where are we?" She called behind her as she trudged up the hill._

_"That's a surprise," Harry panted as he tried to keep pace with her. When had she become this physical? Harry remembered back to the Quidditch World Cup when her and Hermione were both clutching stitches in their sides as they arrived to the portkey last, back before he saw her as anything other than Ron's little sister. 'Although,' he thought to himself, 'now that he was seeing her as a woman, maybe being behind her isn't so bad…after all, the view is nice…'_

_"Are you coming or what?" Ginny yelled over her shoulder as she arrived at the top._

_"Coming," Harry yelled quickly as he bounded the last few steps to where she was, mentally shaking himself. At the top of the hill there was a small bench, big enough for two people, and a washed-out white oak picket fence that rose to Harry's waist, presumably to prevent observers from tumbling down the hill on accident. The view was picturesque, but certainly not perfect enough for her…for this. She deserved to be proposed to in the most beautiful place on Earth, and certainly this was not beautiful enough, it wasn't even half as beautiful as her._

_"Look how calm everything looks," Ginny said as she walked towards the fence, "it would be so easy to sit here and forget everything that's happened, all the death and destruction, all the loss."_

_Harry looked around and realized she was right; standing here, listening to the steady rhythm of the waves crashing softly into the shore, feeling the warmth of the sun on his face, it was hard for him to imagine that evil could even exist, let only that he was personally at war with it only a year and a half ago. This was a place where time stopped, where wounds healed, and where hearts swelled, just as his was doing as he watched Ginny right now. It wasn't as beautiful as she is, but what is? Everything pales in comparison to her; how could he have expected anything differently? No matter where they go, he will always be looking at her, no matter what the scenery. She was the only beauty he needed when he asked her the most important question he would ever ask her, all he needed to fill in were the emotions, and he had plenty of those._

_His heart, which he had always assumed would be racing when he finally got the nerve to ask her, seemed to have slowed instead into a steady rhythm that seemed to release pure love with every pulse. He watched her lean against the fence with her eyes closed, letting the wind caress her face, and he knew it was time. He got down on one knee, and pulled out the ring._

_"Hey, Gin?"_

_She turned around…and smiled._


	9. Baited Breath

_ Harry had never been so happy to hear the word yes in all his life; he smiled and kissed her so much he was sure that his mouth would fall off. Before he had proposed, he had wondered if maybe they were too young, but now he couldn't understand how he could have ever thought that. How could he ever be too young for something that made him this happy? He and Ginny spent the rest of the night together, talking, laughing, watching the sun set…and falling asleep on the sand._

_ "Damn."_

_ When Harry opened his eyes, they were met immediately with sunlight, and the words that Ginny were saying were now repeating themselves in his head as well._

_ "Damn, damn, damn," Ginny repeated, "mum's probably having a fit!"_

_ He stood up and immediately grabbed her arm, apparating back to the Burrow. As their feet hit hard, wet ground, they began to run towards the familiar shape in the distance. After a few seconds, Harry began to slow, and Ginny turned frantically towards him._

_ "What is it? Come on, it'll only be worse the longer that we take!"_

_ "Ginny," he said with a smile, "Ginny, we're engaged."_

_ "So?" Ginny stared at him with an estranged look on her face for a full five seconds before his words finally sank in. A smile spread across her face as she threw her arms around his neck and kissed him._

_ "We're engaged," she said with a smile, her arms still around him, "we're engaged, Merlin we're engaged! Mum's going to have a fit!" At this she grabbed his arm and pulled him towards the house._

_ Harry suddenly felt very nervous; Ginny hadn't specified whether Mrs. Weasley was going to have an I'm-so-happy-for-you-two fit or an I-can't-believe-you're-ruining-your-lives-don't-you-know-you're-too-young fit. Were they too young? Perhaps to others, but surely he was ready for this? After everything he's been through, who could possibly say he's 'too young?' Mrs. Weasley always was protective of her children, and of him, how would she take this? Before he had time to back out, however, they were walking through the front door._

_ "Where have you two been?" Mrs. Weasley was on them the second they entered. "You decided that there was no need to come back from your stroll? Or when you said you were just going out for a walk was I supposed to understand that it would last all night?"_

_ "Mum, I'm sorry," Ginny began, "I forgot beca-"_

_ "Oh, you forgot! Would've been nice to forget, wouldn't it have Arthur? Then we wouldn't have to be up all night worrying about the pair of you. Oh, how nice it would have been to simply forget that you were gone!"_

_ "Mum, it was because Harr-"_

_ "Ron, George!" Mrs. Weasley called as the pair ran in as if on queue. "You'll be happy to know that your sister is home. But its okay, she just forgot to come back, how silly of us to worry."_

_ Ron threw Harry a look that said both 'I'm sorry' and 'Good luck Mate' in one; George looked entertained._

_ "Mum, I'm trying to tell you something!" Ginny had finally managed to get a sentence out._

_ "What that you weren't coming home last night? Because it's a little late for that!"_

_ "Fine!" Ginny stormed into the kitchen and came back with a glass of water in her left hand. "Cheers, then!" Ginny held the cup up in a way that exposed the blue sapphire for the whole room to see. Harry held his breath and waited for the reaction._

_ Mrs. Weasley's eyes widened as she stared at Ginny's hand, Ron wore the same expression he had after witnessing their first kiss, and even George looked taken aback, but Mr. Weasley looked almost as if he had known this would happen. There was a long silence as everyone tried to register what had happened, and then…._

_ "You're engaged!" Mrs. Weasley shouted loudly enough for the whole house to hear._

_ "What?" Hermione, who appeared to have been listening intently from the other room, came in to look. "Oh Harry! That's wonderful!" She threw her arms around Harry's neck as Ron stammered behind her._

_ "Engaged? Ginny…and Harry…I…blimey…." He ran a hand through his bright orange hair as he tried to wrap his mind around the idea._

_ But Harry was waiting for Mrs. Weasley to talk, because it was her opinion he was most anxious for. Would she pitch a fit and refuse to come? Or worse, would she kick him out of their house and refuse to let him see Ginny? Were they too young? He had thought that age didn't matter when it came to love, but did she share that idea? He waited for what seemed to him like hours to her to say something, but she only kept staring._

_ "Well," she said, finally taking her eyes off of the ring and turning them on Harry, "it looks like you're really going to be a part of the family now." She smiled and hugged him. Harry let out a shaky sigh, and he heard Ginny do the same behind him; she must have been just as anxious as he was._

_ "You mean it, mum?" She asked with a smile._

_ "Of course, but we'd better get planning. When do you want to have it?" She turned to Ginny and began to discuss details as Harry realized just how much he had wanted her to approve. After all, she was the only mother figure he's ever had, and if she wasn't on their side, it just wouldn't've been the same._


	10. A Crowed Cupboard

_ Harry pushed himself past the throngs of people who were eager to talk to him, inwardly cursing himself for leaving his invisibility cloak at the Burrow. Of course people would constantly be badgering him, did he really think that they'd let him be just because it was his wedding night? Sure, he wanted to spend the night with his wife, (wife; it still sounded surreal to him,) but they wanted to hear all about his exploits with The Dark Lord, and for some reason they always thought he wanted to tell them._

_ He yelled out excuses about having to use the bathroom or needing to talk to his mother-in-law about something important, and shoved his way into the first door he found, which turned out to be a broom cupboard. He took a step back in the darkness, hoping that nobody would need to mop up a spill, when he bumped into somebody else._

_ Whether it was his newly refined Auror instincts or the result of being targeted by dark wizards his entire life, Harry's mind whirred into overdrive, assuming the worst. He was seconds away from grabbing his wand when a familiar flowery smell engulfed him, and he knew who was in the dark with him._

_ "Ginny?" He pulled out his wand and murmured 'lumos,' and immediately saw Ginny standing before him, a plate of cake in her left hand, a forkful of cake in her right, and a full and bulging mouth._

_ "Hey," she said, the sound muffled from the dessert she was now trying to chew faster._

_ "What are you doing in here?"_

_ "Eating."_

_ "Oh, is this where we're supposed to do that? And here I was sitting at the high table all this time."_

_ "Ha," she said, finally swallowing the cake, "well, I wish I could say the same. It seems that since I'm a Potter now, everyone wants to talk to me all the time. The only thing I've had to eat all night is the bit of cake you shoved in my face! I'm starving!"_

_ But only a small part of that speech had truly registered with Harry._

_ "Potter," he said with a smile, "Ginny Potter. Ginevra Molly Potter. I like it."_

_ She sighed, clearly exasperated._

_ "Yes, I like it too, but that doesn't detract from the fact that I've barely eaten all night, and the only time I've danced with you was during our first dance, and as soon as that was over I was whisked away! I've hardly even seen you all night!"_

_ As she said it, Harry realized that he _hadn't_ seen her all night. The whole time he was busy thinking about how he was being bombarded by questions, how he was unable to see her; he never thought that maybe she was unable to see him as well. He supposed he should have seen it coming; Potter was a pretty famous name these days._

_ Even though he hadn't had the foresight to realize what type of lifestyle Ginny was committing herself to, he was sure she had. The fact that she willingly accepted the lifestyle that Harry himself would have rejected given though choice made his heart swell, and he reached his hand out towards her._

_ "What?" She looked confused._

_ "You wanted to dance." He held his hand closer to her._

_ "In here? There's no room!"_

_ "We'll make room. C'mon."_

_ Ginny took his hand, cautiously, and they began to dance in the dark. Occasionally they knocked over a mop or some cleaning potion, but they avoided any major collisions by staying close together, arms wrapped around each other, saying nothing. Outside, they heard the music, the voices, and the laughter, but for the moment they wanted none of it. For the first time, it truly occurred to Harry that he was not dancing with Ginny, not dancing with his girlfriend, but dancing with his wife, and he held her closer still as he smiled wider than he had in a long, long time. _


	11. A Messy Kitchen

_Harry snuck in through the back door of what was now his and Ginny's house, hoping she had gone to bed an hour ago…when he said he'd be home. He had planned on being home then, but Ron had just finished his Auror training and a bunch of the guys were taking him out and Harry only intended to stay for a _little_ bit…. He knew that would not go over well with Ginny though, and he truly did lose track of the time, whatever she may accuse otherwise. He was thinking up apologies and promises to never do it again as he slipped upstairs to their room. _

_ Before he got there, however, he heard someone coming up the stairs behind him._

_ "Ginny? Why aren't you in bed?" His wife stopped where she was, looking as though she were hiding something._

_ "Um, just waiting for you…by the front door. Why'd you come in the back?"_

_ "No reason. Why were you waiting for me?" He was unnerved by the fact that she wasn't mad at him._

_ "No reason." She looked to her left, avoiding his gaze._

_ "Ginny, what is it?" _

_ "Nothing, it's nothing, let's go to bed." _

_ But he pushed past her and headed downstairs with her tugging on his back the whole way._

_ "No, no, no! There's nothing! Just go to bed!"_

_ He turned into the kitchen and was greeted by a mess he didn't even think possible for one person to make. Cake batter splattered the ceiling while pudding was dripping down the counters. There was a broken bottle sitting in a pile of spilled firewhiskey, which had been mostly soaked up by a cloth that appeared to be half singed._

_ "Ginny, what happened in here?" Asked Harry, trying not to laugh._

_ "Well, I was never really the domestic type, I suppose."_

_ "Well, I know that, but why didn't you want me to see it?"_

_ "I was embarrassed! I was trying to surprise you, but I just ended up making a mess of everything. Mind you, it wouldn't have mattered, seeing as you're an hour late!"_

_ "Are you complaining? What if I had been on time? How would you have been able to hide this?" Harry asked lightly. _

_ Ginny grinned sheepishly. "I suppose you're right. Let's just call it even then."_

_ "Deal," Harry said with a grin, wrapping his arms around her._

_ "What an awful wife I am, I can't even make you a decent meal."_

_ "I didn't marry you for your cooking, Ginny, that's what your mother's for."_

_ Ginny punched him playfully on the arm, and pulled herself loose._

_ "What are you doing?" Harry asked._

_ "Cleaning this mess up."_

_ "Can't it wait until tomorrow?"_

_ "No, it's fine, I don't have to be up early tomorrow, I don't need to sleep anytime soon."_

_ "Ginny, I wasn't thinking about sleeping."_

_ She looked up at him from the spill she was once again attempting to mop and grinned. "Oh, okay then." She stood up and walked towards him. "But if it stains it's your responsibility."_

_ "Fine," Harry said, and he picked her up so suddenly that she let out a small scream, which turned into a laugh, which turned into a kiss, and he carried her towards their bedroom._


	12. The Note

_ He was getting home late; there had been an influx of paperwork minutes before Harry was about to head home and he was forced to stay late. He sent Ginny a patronus, but received no response, so he assumed she had already headed to bed. That is why he was mildly surprised to see the kitchen light on when he came into view of his house. Assuming she had gotten up for a snack, Harry sped up, hoping to catch her before she went back to bed. The closer he got to the house, the more uneasy he felt, though he couldn't figure out why. By the time he arrived at the front gate, he realized what it was: all the lights were on. If Ginny had just gone from the bedroom to the kitchen for a snack, then why would the living room, the upstairs bathroom, the porch, and the office lights all be on? He walked quickly to the door._

_ "Ginny?" He called as he walked to the kitchen._

_ She wasn't in there. He continued calling er name, walking through the first floor. After he had explored every room, his heart began to race, and he sprinted up the stairs taking two at a time._

_ "Ginny!" He ran through the bathroom, the office, and into his bedroom. She wasn't upstairs either. He jumped down the stairs, prepared to head out and look for her, though where he wasn't quite sure, when he noticed something on the kitchen table that he had missed his first time around: a note._

_ 'Please let it say that she ran to the Burrow real quick,' Harry thought as he snatched it up. He read it quickly, and his veins seemed to fill with ice._

_Harry Potter,_

_ Left Missus Potter alone in the castle with no  
>dragon to guard her? How much faith you<br>hold in humanity, most unwise indeed._

_You'll want to apparate to a hill about five  
>kilometers south of your cozy little town, it's called<br>Boulderhead. From there you'll need to head  
>East for quite some time. Once you see a small<br>shack, you're there._

_Oh, and do be quick, I'm afraid I have an awful  
>temper, and I hate when people are late.<em>

_ Without thinking, Harry turned on the spot, thinking of the hill mentioned in the note._

_Harry felt his feet hit cold, hard ground, and looked frantically in every direction. There was nothing but shallow hills and grass for as far as he could see, and definitely no sign of a shack. He hastily placed his wand on his outstretched palm and muttered "Point me." The wand spun around, eventually pointing to Harry's left, and Harry shot forward, sprinting east, just as the note had said._

_Harry left the ministry around ten 'o clock tonight and found the note as soon as he got home, so he assumed it was around ten-thirty now. At any rate, the sky was dark and clear; even the stars seemed dimmer, but that could just be because of Harry's current feeling of cold dread._

_It was that note, that awful note that made Harry feel more terrified than he could ever remember feeling before. He had faced horrible creatures, dark wizards, and even death more times than even the most experienced Auror, but he had never in his life been so terrified by one sentence._

He had been running for a good ten minutes, and he was beginning to have a hard time breathing. He pushed through his exhaustion, his pain, and his terror, running faster than he ever had in his life. Finally, not daring to believe it, he thought he saw something in the distance, and he headed for it.

By the time he was about half a kilometer from the shack he began to survey the area. It wasn't protected by any kind of enchantments, and _homenum revelio_ revealed only two human presences inside. He saw a window on the south side, and he snuck up to it. Crouching beneath the sill, he carefully raised his head far enough to see inside, but, hopefully, not far enough to be seen himself. He immediately saw a door leading to a separate room to his left, which is where the note-writer must be, because the only person in this room was a redheaded women bound to a support beam.

Her head was lolled in front, and Harry prayed that she was only unconscious, because the alternative was unthinkable…. He thought that finding Ginny would assuage his fear at least a little, but instead it intensified it; he couldn't tell if she was breathing or not. How long was she here before he even arrived home? She must have been taken before he sent her the patronus saying he'd be late, which is why she never responded, so it could've been over three hours already, and the note had said to hurry….

The thought that Harry might not have been quick enough made him feel sick. Harry truly was terrified; terrified for Ginny, for all the memories they had together, and for all the ones he had hoped to make, but more importantly, he was terrified for the small but noticeable bump that was rounding out the lower half of Ginny's shirt.


	13. The Grand Finale

It was just four and a half months ago when Ginny told him that they were having a baby, and since then Harry had been happier than he could ever remember being. He finally was getting what he had been missing his whole life: a proper family. Sure, the Weasleys had been like a family to him, but they weren't flesh and blood.

But now that family wasn't guaranteed, and Harry was still pleading silently that Ginny was just unconscious as he made his way around the perimeter. There was a door that he had passed as he ran for the window, but being the primary point of entry he thought it would be better to gain access somewhere else. He didn't find another entrance, but at the back of the building he found a cellar door jutting from the ground, reminiscent of old pubs.

As soon as he had jumped down to the cellar, he knew at once why this building reminded him of a pub; the cellar was packed with crates upon grates of bottled beverages. In order to see what kind of beverages, Harry had to wipe off a layer of dust so thick that he couldn't even tell the color of the crates until he did, but even that didn't help him identify the kind of liquid; both the crates and the bottles were labeled with runes. Harry was wondering how old this place actually was as he walked across the cellar, his footsteps completely muffled by dust, and whether he was in danger of being crushed upon seeing the moldy and splintering support beams.

He looked at the ceiling for any kind of entrance, having to push thick spider-infested webs aside as he did. The building was not that big, it seemed to have only the one-roomed cellar, and above, the main room with a smaller one off to the side. Harry was reaching the end of the cellar, and if there wasn't any door here, there wasn't going to be one. He would have to burst in through the front, preparing himself for an attack. However, that wasn't necessary; Harry found a square in the ceiling that wasn't attached to the wood around it; a trapdoor.

Harry pushed up; the door creaked menacingly and bits of the wood fell away as he did. He could feel the mildew within the wood, and before long, there was barely any door left to push. Once the opening was clear, he peeked his head up to survey the room. It was the same as when he looked from the window, but now Harry was within an arm's length of Ginny. From this closer vantage point, he saw that the top half of her shirt was drenched in blood. He watched her closely, but her chest didn't seem to be moving at all.

Panic clenched at his heart as he, abandoning everything he learned in his training, hoisted himself up to the main floor and crawled frantically over towards Ginny. He pulled her head up, and saw where the blood was coming from. Her nose was broken, and there were several cuts on her face, but nothing that looked fatal…so why wasn't she breathing?

"So, I see you've received my note. Nice of you to have the courtesy to show up promptly. Mind you, it won't benefit you at all."

The voice was gritty and the laugh that followed those words was maniacal. Harry twisted around and saw a man standing before him, a man who looked crazed. The first thing Harry noticed were his eyes; they were a peculiar shade of gray, and the left one was lazy, looking somewhere towards where the wall and ceiling met. His hair was brown and wild, and Harry was sure it hadn't been cut, or even washed, anytime recently. The clothes, if you could still call them that, which he wore were dirty and torn, giving the impression that he had been consorting in the woods with werewolves, or leading some other kind of vicious lifestyle. The overall appearance, though not intimidating, was terrifying, because he looked like a man who had no sense of right and wrong, and nothing to lose.

"You'll want to lower that wand, Potter, or something may happen to your precious family. Though, I haven't checked on her in a while, she doesn't seem to be breathing, does she? Pity…but maybe the child is still alive."

"What have you done to her?" Harry was shaking with rage and fear, feeling both helpless and defeated; telling himself that he was lying…this man was lying….

He laughed that maniacal laugh before answering. "What have I done to her? Nothing I won't do to you, you can be sure of that." And with a slash of his wand, Harry felt the skin on his cheek tear open as blood poured down his face. The man laughed some more. "I suppose we should go through introductions. My name is Bancroft Sutton, pureblood. My family goes back ages, back to its humble beginnings in this very pub. The very first Sutton opened this pub many years ago, I couldn't give you a year, there's no record dating back that far, but the important part was what was done with the money earned from this pub.

"Our family quickly became involved in the effort to restore pureblood power and eliminate mudbloods and blood traitors from our society. You can imagine how popular our cause was then, back when breeding between wizards and muggles was just beginning and most people thought it blasphemous, but nowadays people encourage it. I can assure you my position hasn't changed on that matter. Our lifestyle had not always been comfortable, but it has been worth it, because really, killing mudbloods is far more entertaining than anything gold could offer."

"So what do you want with me?"

"With you? I want revenge, Potter. We were so close, so close to a new world order. The ministry was rounding up mudbloods, as they ought to, and then you decided to kill the Dark Lord, and now everything is back to 'normal.' Well, I hate this normal, and I hate you for restoring it. So I've decided to kill you. I'm sorry to inform you that it won't be nearly as dramatic as if the Dark Lord had managed to do it, but I do hope you'll bear with me."

He raised his wand, and Harry mimicked him, which resulted in another slash across his face.

"Didn't I tell you to lower your wand? You are not a very good listener. Perhaps you need more persuading." He ambled over to Ginny and bent down beside her, holding his wand to her head. "Next time you try to defend yourself, you won't be the one getting hurt, Potter. Oh, wait, she's not breathing, is she?" He said with a smile. "Well, in that case…." He lowered his wand to her stomach. Harry dropped his wand as if it had suddenly burned red hot. Bancroft smiled. "Very good…you're learning." He got up and walked back to his former position. "Now, let's see what we can do here…."

Bancroft examined Harry like an artist examining a canvas before he raised his wand and began to make swooping and slashing movements, sometimes causing more cuts, other times what felt like blunt impacts that winded and weakened Harry. Each time that Harry made a noise, or bent over in pain, Bancroft smiled a lopsided smile, his eyes glittering.

"How does that feel?" He asked with a crazed smile when Harry had fallen to all fours, gasping for air that didn't seem to want to enter his lungs. "I suppose you're ready for a break. What else can I share with you…let's see…oh, yes! You may be wondering why I wasn't a Death Eater. Well, it's really quite simple, Potter, Death Eaters get caught, and being locked up in Azkaban would have been very inconvenient towards my sche—Oh!" His speech was stopped because Harry, as soon as Bancroft was looking in another direction, reached for his wand and muttered "Langlock," with what little voice he had left.

At once Bancroft expression turned furious and he started throwing nonverbal spells at Harry, who was on his feet and dodging them. This went on for about a minute before the jinx seemed to have worn off and Bancroft yelled "CONFRINGO!" while waving his wand wildly.

The floor beneath them, already unstable, blast to pieces, and both Harry and Bancroft dropped to the cellar. Harry landed on his back, feeling winded all over again, and hit his head hard on the dusty stone cellar floor. Everything swam before him and blackness hung ominously at the edge of his vision, threatening to take over completely. Harry breathed deeply, willing himself to stay conscious, and started getting to his feet. He saw that his wand had fallen to his right, and he quickly grabbed it while looking up and seeing that the part of the floor that Ginny was on was still intact; she was on the upper level and Bancroft couldn't hurt her now.

A jet of red shot right past his knee and Harry turned towards its source. Bancroft, who was still struggling to regain his balance, was shooting off jinxes and curses indiscriminately, and Harry was all too grateful that Ginny wasn't near his line of fire. Harry began fighting back, shooting hexes while dodging Bancroft's wild attacks. Bottles were shattering everywhere, and soon both of them were soaked in the ancient smelling liquor. In an attempt to dodge the Cruciatus Curse Bancroft had just fired at him, Harry leapt to his left, landing on a fallen bottle and slipping, falling to the floor. He landed with a crash, his glasses sliding to the bridge of his nose and his wand rolling away in front of him. He crawled quickly toward it, but when he was nearly there, he heard Bancroft yell "STOP!" and turned to see that he had his wand pointed towards Harry's head, a gleeful smile on his face.

"So, you thought you could scrape your way through this one too, eh? Well, I don't think so. I think it's time you were repaid in full all the destruction you've caused the Dark Lord, his followers, and me."

Harry looked around frantically, desperate for anything that could get him out of this situation. He couldn't reach for his wand without Bancroft blasting his head off first, and he couldn't just fire something at him because he would be sure to dodge it and return the favor. Harry needed the element of surprise on his side, and just when he was convincing himself that there were no options left for him, he saw it.

"This will show everyone! This will show them that not even The Boy Who Lived, The Chosen One, The One Who Vanquished the Dark Lord is more powerful than a Sutton! I'll restore my name to its former glory, and restore proper wizarding order!"

The remnants from the floor above that had been shattered lay all round them, but the largest pile lay in front of Harry, right behind Bancroft, with the largest shard sticking out straight at them, its edge splintered and pointed.

"And then no one will dare stand up to us! The pureblood regime will reign as the new Ministry of Magic! Mudbloods will be murdered before they're even old enough to realize what monstrosities they are, and breeding with muggles will be punishable by death! Everything will be back to they way it ought to be, and I will be the one to thank for it! And I'll be starting with you Potter, so congratulations; you'll be making history once more.

"Avad-"

"ACCIO!"

Harry had grabbed his wand and pointed it towards the largest shard of wood, and it shot forward, its pointed edge landing in Bancroft's back. It was hardly more than a flesh wound, the wood was so old and mildewed that it couldn't do any real damage, but it was enough to make Bancroft, who wasn't expecting an attack from behind, lower his wand in surprise, and that was all Harry needed.

"Petrificus Totalus!"

Bancroft's limbs shot together and he fell forward, completely immobilized. Harry quickly shot a patronus to the ministry, requesting backup, and scrambled to the upper floor without another look at the maniac on the ground behind him.

He dropped himself in front of Ginny, tears mixing with the blood on his face as he tried to forget that she wasn't breathing, forget that he had lost her too, and forget that the family he so desperately wanted was taken from him, just as nearly every other family figure had been. By now, the tears were falling freely, and Harry buried his head in Ginny's chest and cried in earnest.

Harry pulled his head back so quickly that if anyone had been watching they would have thought that Harry heard Bancroft moving downstairs; had he been imagining it, or had he felt her heart beat? He pulled her head up and placed his hand under her noise; he felt her breath against it. He looked at her neck and saw her pulse beating there; he looked at her chest and saw it moving with every breath, she was alive!

Now that he knew it, Harry was sure she had been breathing the whole time, and that in his state of panic, he had overlooked it. Bancroft had been bluffing, he saw Harry's fear and played on it, he had been bluffing the whole time. Harry looked at Ginny's face, which had begun to bruise around the many cuts, and another awful thought struck him: if Ginny had been beaten as badly as it looked like she had, was the baby okay? Harry placed his hand on her stomach and waited…waited…waited….

He felt a kick, small, but there. He could have collapsed with relief. He looked at Ginny's face once more, pointed his wand at it, and gently said "Episky," and her nose repaired itself. He began healing all the cuts, one by one, and siphoning off the blood. Once she looked as though she was simply sleeping, Harry pointed his wand to her chest and said "Rennervate."

Her eyes opened, and immediately widened.

"Harry! What happened? Your face…."

He had forgotten that he too was wearing the signs of battle. "Don't worry, Gin, I'm fine. What happened to you, what did he do?"

"What did who do?" She looked at him at him quizzically, and then urgently as the memory hit her. "Nothing, I just…I was going to the kitchen for a snack, and I heard a noise behind me, and I went to turn…but I blacked out." Harry was relieved, he did all of this after she was unconscious; she didn't feel a thing. "He must have been in the house…Harry! The baby!"

"I just felt it kick, but we're going straight to St. Mungos after this." Ginny nodded in agreement as Harry untied her. Four loud pops sounded from outside, and the backup Aurors stormed into the pub; one of them was Ron.

"Harry! Ginny!" Ron bounded straight for them while two Aurors hopped down into the cellar and the other surveyed the area. He quickly assured Ron that they were both alright, but he looked less than convinced. "What happened?" He asked.

"I think we'd all like to know that," said the surveying Auror as the other two hoisted Bancroft's rigid body up to the main level.

Harry began to tell the story, starting at him finding the note, and ending with him immobilizing Bancroft; he left out how he had thought Ginny was dead. When he was finished, the surveying Auror apparated back to the ministry to fill out paperwork, the other two began transporting Bancroft's body, and Ron refused to leave Harry and Ginny's sides, insisting on helping them get to St. Mungos.

"Well, the more the merrier, and you can let mum know while you're waiting," she said to Ron while hoisting herself up, "come on, let's go make sure little James is okay."

"James?" Harry asked suddenly. "It's a James, not a Lily?"

Ginny's eyes widened once more as she clamped her hands to her mouth. "Oh Harry! I'm sorry! And you wanted to be surprised…."

"No," said Harry with a smile, "I don't mind knowing. Now I can use his name."

As they walked out into the night, Harry placed his arm around Ginny, his wife, and his hand on James, his son, and felt more grateful than ever for everything he had been blessed with.

* * *

><p><strong>So there you have it, the grand finale. If you haven't reviewed before now, this is the perfect time, because I've never written anything like this chapter before and I would love some feedback<strong>! **It only takes a few seconds to let me know how I did, and I would be eternally grateful! Thank you so much for reading and reviewing; I appreciate all of you. I love writing for all of you guys and I hope that you'll continue to read my works in the future! Thank you!**

**~Izzi**


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